Election of the President of

European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...

was held on 8 March 2011. Election was held after the previous president Michal Kaminski quit the group. Candidates included Czech MEP

Jan Zahradil Jan Zahradil (born 30 March 1963) is a Czech politician for the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) who has been Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the Czech Republic entered the European Union in 2004. Zahradil also served as Member of th ...

, British MEP

Timothy Kirkhope Timothy John Robert Kirkhope, Baron Kirkhope of Harrogate (born 29 April 1945) is a British lawyer and politician who previously served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber for the Conservative Party. After ...

and Polish MEP

Ryszard Legutko Ryszard Antoni Legutko (), (born 24 December 1949), is a Polish philosopher and politician, and professor of philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, specializing in ancient philosophy and political theory. Biography Under communis ...

. Kirkhope was considered the favourite to become the new president as the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

dominated the group. He was defeated by Zahradil who became the new president.

Background

Michal Kaminski was elected the President of European Conservatives and Reformists in 2009. He was a member of the Polish

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

party. His party was accused of far-right politics. He resigned in January 2011 after having faced 'aggression' and 'hatred' from his colleagues in the party. On 28 January 2011, member of Czech Civic Democratic Party Jan Zahradil announced his candidacy. Zahradil started to seek support for his candidacy. He stated that he would try to attract more deputies to the group and improve its communication strategy if he becomes the new president. Zahradil was supported by the Czech Prime Minister

Petr Nečas Petr Nečas (; born 19 November 1964) is a Czech former politician who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the Civic Democratic Party from 2010 to 2013, and as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1993 to 2013 ...

stated on the same day that he might seek

nomination for the president. Polish MEP

announced his candidacy on 17 February 2011. His candidacy has put the Law and Justice party on a collision course with British MEPs. Legutko's candidacy caused controversy due to his views on Gay rights.

Candidates

, British MEP and member of

. He was the most

Pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

candidate and the least controversial. He is a former Minister of British government and an experienced politician. *

, Polish MEP and a member of

. His candidacy was considered very controversial, and he is known for negative opinions of homosexual rights. *

, Czech MEP and member of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). He is known to be a protégé of the Czech President Vaclav Klaus and the leading

climate change denier Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or the ...

in the Parliament. He actively promoted documentary ‘

The Great Global Warming Swindle ''The Great Global Warming Swindle'' is a 2007 British polemical documentary film directed by Martin Durkin. The film denies the scientific consensus about the reality and causes of climate change, justifying this by suggesting that climatolo ...

’.

ECR Group members

All 54 MEPs who were members of ECR were allowed to vote.

Voting

Legutko withdraw from the election in last minutes. Kirkhope was expected to win majority of 54 MEPs but he received only 18 votes while Zahradil 36. Zahradil thus became the new president.

Afterwards

The result was considered a defeat to

and British Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

. Prominent members of the Labour Party used the result to attack Cameron. Zahradil became the first Czech to be a president of a group in European parliament. The Civic Democratic Party considered the result a huge success. Zahradil's term was only contemporary as it would end in December 2011. Zahradil decided to not seek reelection. Zahradil instead ran for leadership of

Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), formerly known as Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) (2009–2016) and Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) (2016–2019), is a Conservatis ...

References

{{Reflist 2011 elections European Conservatives and Reformists